OK, I imagine this will probably cause some backlash, but that was the mildest thread title I could come up with. Here are some examples from the comments of their review of Mark of the Ninja:

"Oh no, the game doesn't have exactly the kind of save system that traditional PC games have, I SUDDENLY HAVE NO INTEREST IN IT."

"Let me belittle anyone who thinks MotN is a good stealth game by assuming that they're console gamers who have only played the Assassin's Creed series. LOL, AMIRITE GUIZE?"

Not all of the comments are that negative, but there is a pattern of that sort of stuff in the comments of most of their articles. I know that's not unique to RPS in particular, but I think I would almost prefer the idiot 12-year-olds and trolls of something like Kotaku to the arrogant pricks of RPS.

Are we trying to start some internet conflict with RPS? Because I will totally join the Giant Bomb army in that regard. Too long have we sufficed in going after NeoGAF. Of course, considering that RPS is a site where most of the writers are old-guard PC enthusiasts (or elitists, I guess), it doesn't surprise me that it attracts the same kind of readership with more extreme positions.

That's fandom for you. Any entertainment medium is going to be overrun with that sort of thing. Look at the iMDB boards, for instance. People get goddamn VICIOUS if you say you like/dislike a movie. Doesn't matter what the movie is.

The GOG forums are hilarious. The amount of people talking about Steam as if it's some great evil because it occasionally requires you to connect to the internet to play your games (despite having an offline mode) are numerous, which goes along well with all of the "Games used to be so much better in the olden days, all these modern games are dumb 13 year old Call of Duty idiot garbage" mentality. Also, at one point someone tried to tell me that Divinity II was a good game.

Giant Bomb is the best of both worlds, we have 12 year olds AND arrogant pricks!

Yeah pretty much. I don't see how this has anything to do with what fucking website said comments are posted too.

I guess I'm just noticing that RPS is pretty light on straight up trolls and people who must be children, but then has a fairly high amount of people who are condescending assholes. I guess it has the same problems as NeoGAF, in that the site doesn't have as much appeal to children/teens and trolls, so the irritating class of people that you're most likely to find are condescending assholes.

While we are picking fights, why dont we go after youtube commenters and amazon reviewers too. Then we can be sure we are fighting the entire internet instead of just some part of it. The vocal minority they call them. They aren't impossible to please, its just that if all those mechanics would have been the way these people wanted them, a whole different group would be bitching about it instead.

@ArbitraryWater said:

Of course, considering that RPS is a site where most of the writers are old-guard PC enthusiasts (or elitists, I guess), it doesn't surprise me that it attracts the same kind of readership with more extreme positions.

Also, well said sir. Something about the term Old-guard just made me nod in agreement before I had finished reading the sentence.

I like some of the editorials in RPS, even if I don't abide by some of their reviews. However, the comment threads are pretty toxic at times. I guess a website with a more niche viewpoint attracts more people with more radical feelings.

Yeah, we definitely don't have these kinds of violent reactions to things like art style here on Giant Bomb. Nope, we definitely don't have people constantly whining about almost every editor on the site, yelling at each other when an E.R. is mentioned, or condescending to communities distant from our own.

Like, I love Giant Bomb too, guys. I think you guys are the coolest people on the 'net, and the editors are cooler than being cool. That is to say, they are ice cold. All right? I wouldn't hang out here as much as I do if I didn't feel that way. But we're not perfect, and talking shit about other communities just seems completely lame. Especially when it's for something as common and inessential as this.

I'm not sure the second example is really proving what you think it is, but the level of entitlement and elitism in the hardcore PC gaming community can be pretty amusing. I obviously don't want to paint with too broad of a brush, but there's a sizeable contingent that seem to think that consoles are ruining gaming, people are being irrational for not dropping $800 (+ upgrades every few years) for gaming PC, or that the only reason PC gaming hasn't taken off more is that developers don't cater to their niche demands.

I think PC gaming is neat -- I'm basically a gamer because of PC gaming -- but it drives me nuts whenever I see a condescending implication that I should know better than to play console games.

@gelatinabomination said:

[...] I guess a website with a more niche viewpoint attracts more people with more radical feelings.

They're certainly more discerning than your average 'YESSSS ANOTHER HALOS!!!!' game site user. But then they're more discerning in their choice of platform too, so it shouldn't be that surprising.

As to your points:

1. Shitty checkpointing systems which force you to repeat easy sections before you get to a tricky section should get called out for being shitty. Nobody has patience for that shit anymore.

2."Let me belittle anyone who thinks MotN is a good stealth game by assuming that they're console gamers who have only played the Assassin's Creed series. LOL, AMIRITE GUIZE?" - Uhh... nobody in your screenshot even mentions consoles? Top argument.

I really don't mind that. They seem to have some good criticisms going for it. Sure it sucks that it means someone won't purchase it but whatever they're entitled. I'd rather see discussion like that over mindless praise any day.

Holy shit it's an internet forum! The only thing about RPS that I dislike is the way their fans talk about reviews on other sites. The whole holier than thou because we don't have scores shit is just annoying. Scores are still a good thing if you are familiar with that author's work and tastes.

edit: I just want to point out that I don't have a problem with the RPS reviews since my comment could have been read that way.

Hipsterism is a plague that is rapidly spreading, and we can all do our part to hinder it further. Knowledge is power!

Where are the hipsters here? I see no ironic enjoyment of bad media properties, throwback clothing and indie music anywhere.

Anyway yeah Rock Paper Shotgun seems to have the worst PC fans on staff. Just reading their bit on the new XCOM, even though it was favorable and the writer clearly enjoyed it, the guy couldn't write a paragraph without mentioning some feature or another from the original X-Com that was "missing" or that made the original better in some way or another.

I get the need to compare the two, but that shouldn't be the focus of one's piece about XCOM, because the game is a lot more than a simple remake of the original, there's clearly an attempt to create something original and develop the series in a new direction while he was just pining for the exact same experience he had 20 years ago. Christ, I bet if they all had their way we'd all be playing games on Apple-IIs only.

Hipsterism is a plague that is rapidly spreading, and we can all do our part to hinder it further. Knowledge is power!

Where are the hipsters here? I see no ironic enjoyment of bad media properties, throwback clothing and indie music anywhere.

Anyway yeah Rock Paper Shotgun seems to have the worst PC fans on staff. Just reading their bit on the new XCOM, even though it was favorable and the writer clearly enjoyed it, the guy couldn't write a paragraph without mentioning some feature or another from the original X-Com that was "missing" or that made the original better in some way or another.

I get the need to compare the two, but that shouldn't be the focus of one's piece about XCOM, because the game is a lot more than a simple remake of the original, there's clearly an attempt to create something original and develop the series in a new direction while he was just pining for the exact same experience he had 20 years ago. Christ, I bet if they all had their way we'd all be playing games on Apple-IIs only.

Well, looking at the comments of some Quick Looks could make me feel like Giant Bomb has the worst community on the internet. Remember the Dust: Elysian Tale QL? Yeah....

@GrantHeaslip said:

I'm not sure the second example is really proving what you think it is, but the level of entitlement and elitism in the hardcore PC gaming community can be pretty amusing. I obviously don't want to paint with too broad of a brush, but there's a sizeable contingent that seem to think that consoles are ruining gaming, people are being irrational for not dropping $800 (+ upgrades every few years) for gaming PC, or that the only reason PC gaming hasn't taken off more is that developers don't cater to their niche demands.

See, I'm a PC only guy and everytime I read something like this I just want to scream. Urgh...

This stupid fucking "well, OBVIOUSLY the PC version HAS to bee superior to the peasant version, otherwise it isn't worthy to be played on my mighty rig. And also consoles are the death of gaming because mainstream and Call of Duty and lol grafix meepmeepmeep" attitude annoys me so much, it almost makes me ashamed to be a PC gamer. "Fortunately" console fanboys are just as stupid but man....I really want the ability to punch people over the internet.

Hipsterism is a plague that is rapidly spreading, and we can all do our part to hinder it further. Knowledge is power!

Where are the hipsters here? I see no ironic enjoyment of bad media properties, throwback clothing and indie music anywhere.

Anyway yeah Rock Paper Shotgun seems to have the worst PC fans on staff. Just reading their bit on the new XCOM, even though it was favorable and the writer clearly enjoyed it, the guy couldn't write a paragraph without mentioning some feature or another from the original X-Com that was "missing" or that made the original better in some way or another.

I get the need to compare the two, but that shouldn't be the focus of one's piece about XCOM, because the game is a lot more than a simple remake of the original, there's clearly an attempt to create something original and develop the series in a new direction while he was just pining for the exact same experience he had 20 years ago. Christ, I bet if they all had their way we'd all be playing games on Apple-IIs only.

no because they hate the mac

Hahaha true enough. Though the Apple II was pre-mac and if any big-time PC gamer disses it, they basically don't understand anything about nothing. That thing is a treasure trove of classics.

Giant Bomb is the best of both worlds, we have 12 year olds AND arrogant pricks!

Yeah pretty much. I don't see how this has anything to do with what fucking website said comments are posted too.

I guess I'm just noticing that RPS is pretty light on straight up trolls and people who must be children, but then has a fairly high amount of people who are condescending assholes. I guess it has the same problems as NeoGAF, in that the site doesn't have as much appeal to children/teens and trolls, so the irritating class of people that you're most likely to find are condescending assholes.

A high concentration of assholes? Sounds like my family reunion. Boom!

Every online community based around any topic are full of stupid people like that. It's something that has sadly taken me longer than I wish it had to realize, but the comments section of any topic will be full of nothing of value. Ether it's just mindless praise of no discussion value or people bitching and moaning about things of no real relevance that don't deserve the attention or the time of replying to them. Then the few times someone actually posts something of value it gets drowned out by all the nonsense.

Yeah, we definitely don't have these kinds of violent reactions to things like art style here on Giant Bomb. Nope, we definitely don't have people constantly whining about almost every editor on the site, yelling at each other when an E.R. is mentioned, or condescending to communities distant from our own.

Like, I love Giant Bomb too, guys. I think you guys are the coolest people on the 'net, and the editors are cooler than being cool. That is to say, they are ice cold. All right? I wouldn't hang out here as much as I do if I didn't feel that way. But we're not perfect, and talking shit about other communities just seems completely lame. Especially when it's for something as common and inessential as this.

This, mind your own damn business, OP. You might as well be complaining about the whole internet.

Stupid RPS comments! There is nothing there about how Patrick ruins everything, how Ryan is terrible at Quick Looks, how Brad sucks at playing games, and how Jeff hates my favorite genre. You know the serious important topics that are handled which such class at Giantbomb.

Every online community based around any topic are full of stupid people like that. It's something that has sadly taken me longer than I wish it had to realize, but the comments section of any topic will be full of nothing of value. Ether it's just mindless praise of no discussion value or people bitching and moaning about things of no real relevance that don't deserve the attention or the time of replying to them. Then the few times someone actually posts something of value it gets drowned out by all the nonsense.

I did actually come to a similar conclusion. The "everything must have comments now" is one of the aspects I hate about Web 2.0, because it honestly adds next to nothing. It just leads to the worst parts of internet forums to leak into the bottom of like every single article and video that gets posted anywhere. 99% of comments either don't add much to the discussion, or are actively terrible and ignorant. I would be totally fine if news articles and videos didn't have comments anymore, because they are rarely as measured and civil as the original article/video.